Of A Feather
by my-wings-flew-away
Summary: When Aurora begins to experience strange and unexplained changes, Maleficent fears what the origins of this peculiar new magic might be, and if she'll be able to protect her beloved Beastie from it. Eventual Malora.
1. Chapter 1

Little more than a year's time had passed since Maleficent's reign of vengeance had taken hold of the moors, something she could not forgive herself for when every time she saw the way the creatures watched her in fear she was reminded of just how much damage she had caused. With the curse broken and a peace, albeit a wary one, struck up between the two kingdoms, Maleficent had devoted almost all her time to restoring the moors to what they had been when she was but a girl and her heart was free from hatred.

Now, as the protector of the moors that she had restored, she spent her time trying to remember how things had been before she had ever laid eyes on a human, when she felt nothing but a fierce love rather than a consuming hatred.

The moments just before the sun set behind the eastern mountains had always been Maleficent's favorite time of the day. From her perch on one of the sturdy arms of her oak tree she gazed steadily over the moors, _her moors_, and relished in the life that had been restored.

The air itself now felt lighter. It buzzed with the wild sort of magic that was woven into every living thing on the moors, and, as Maleficent had learned as a fledgling, even the air was alive on the moors. It could decide whether to blow this way or that, be gentle or fierce, and whether to aid you or work against you

Just now it was warm, ruffling the feathers of her wings fondly. She pressed a blackberry to her mouth and savored the sweetness it granted her.

Along the riverbanks below her, Knottgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit were zipping to and fro among the flowers, coaxing them closed for the night. Downstream, a fawn was stealing one last drink from the cool water before prancing after its mother into the trees where he regal Sentries stood proudly at their posts.

Maleficent found her attention drawn across the way by the sound of laughter towards the edge of the lagoon, where a certain blonde-haired girl and a raven-turned-man engaged in a mudslinging war with a family of wallerbogs.

Plopping one last berry to her mouth, Maleficent shifted to her feet and to stand balancing on her perch. She unfurled her russet wings, humming in delight as the last warm rays of light warmed the feathers before disappearing entirely behind the hills, and plunged down the bluff as she had done so many times before.

Broad and sturdy wings gave one hard downstroke and she was carried over the surface of the water below her. The wind, in a particularly friendly mood that day, propelled her faster towards her destination as she wove between the rocky formations and the nocturnal water sprites that had come out to play and were flitting here and there over the water's surface.

The loud "whoosh" of behind Aurora told her that Maleficent was there before the faery had spoken a word. She retreated from her game with a squeal of delight, leaving Diaval to hold his own in what appeared to be a losing battle so that she could run to embrace the creature she had grown to love most

"Honestly Aurora, as ruling monarch of two kingdoms I would expect you to at least _try_ to appear more dignified," Maleficent chided fondly as Aurora pulled away, revealing the extent of the carnage their mud fight had wrought on her appearance.

Aurora's dress was smeared with the inky muck. Her usual wispy blonde locks looked as though they had been dyed and were matted to her neck and back. Streaks of the dark mud covered her face like war paint; at the moment it wore an expression of annoyance, but her blue and gold eyes betrayed her joy.

_Blue and gold? _Malefcent blinked once in confusion.

Sure enough, she could see a small ring of a shimmering gold on the edges of her pupils, mingling with the grey-blue there that she had always remembered.

_Aurora's eyes had never been anything but blue. I, of all creatures, would have noticed._

At that thought Maleficent bristled, perplexed by what even she meant by that.

Aurora must not have noticed the faery's internal monologue, for she stood proudly and lifted her chin as she spoke, "And as your queen I declare that being stuffy and dignified at all hours of the day is an awful bore, and should be a punishable offense." She met Maleficent's steady gaze and the faery couldn't help but notice the gleam of gold she found there again; she found her mind drifting to memories of the shimmering light the sunset had cast over the moors just moments ago.

_Curious little Beastie..._ But Maleficent tucked this away for further reflection at a later time and turned her full attention to the waiting monarch.

"My apologies, Your Majesty." The faery smirked as she bowed low, wings extended out to each side. "I accept whatever punishment you deem suitable for my offense," Maleficent stated calmly, daring the little blonde to make good on her word.

With smug satisfaction, she watched the girl falter in her mock authoritative stance. Before Aurora could think of something to say a fistful of mud struck Maleficent's cheek, followed by a cackle that sounded strikingly similar to the cawing of a raven and the phlegmy laughter of the wallerbogs.

Raising a hand to wipe the slime from her face, Maleficent chuckled. "Well," she said curtly, "I suppose I deserved that." She thought of retaliating, remembering the night so similar to this one when she had smacked Diaval with a wave of mud. Though slightly annoyed she couldn't help but smile when she saw the light in Aurora's eyes, _those strangely golden yet blue eyes_, and all thoughts of retaliation vanished from her mind.

"Come, Beastie. It's time you returned for the night. Your time left here on the moors before you return to the humans again is running short, and I must say that I feel as though I've hardly seen you," Maleficent spoke warmly but did not hide the note of disappointment in her voice.

She noticed Diaval smirk and she stiffened. She had waved her hand and restored him to his true raven form before the snarky bird could say anything in protest.

Aurora retrieved her crown of golden branches and flowers, bid the wallerbogs farewell and thanked them for the fun she had with them before taking the arm Maleficent offered her and walking with the fairy along the banks of the water. Diaval flew just behind them, making his annoyance with the uncalled for transformation known with every croak and caw he dared make.

They stopped their peaceful (after Malficent had bound the bird's beak shut with magic) walk just at the base of the cliff where Maleficent's tree was rooted and a small waterfall trickled down from a lower bluff and emptying into the large pond where several water sprites were frolicking

Another wave of her hand and Diaval was sputtering on the ground as a human once more. When he stood he made as if to start arguing but a stern look from Maleficent and a flash of a dangerous green in her ever-changing eyes shut him up.

"My apologies, Mistress," he said quietly, though annoyance still plain on his face.

"Hm." This was her only acknowledgement of his apology before she followed it with an order to be obeyed. "I need you to bring me the reports from the Sentries of anything important by tomorrow morning." She paused, waiting for his acknowledgement of her request. Once received, she waved her hand once more and glittering golden magic swirled from her fingers. "Into a bird."

The two watched his figure disappear into the forest in silence. It was Aurora who spoke first.

"I assume we'll be heading back home now?"

"No, not yet."

"Not yet?" the girl asked, confused.

Maleficent smiled. "I would not let you within then feet of my tree covered in mud like that. You should see yourself, absolutely filthy!" the faery really laughed this time, not the controlled laughter she used around other creatures but the kind of easy and laughter she reserved only for when she was with Aurora.

The blonde laughed as well at her foolishness, and then again when she went to view her reflection in the water of the pool. She tried in vain to scoop water with her hands and wash the mud off herself, looking up at Maleficent in exasperation when her efforts did little to clean up the damage.

"Silly girl, do you not think I would have tried that myself if I thought it would have worked?" The faery fluttered her feathers in amusement at the girl's naiveté. "That mud is imbued with the slime of the wallerbogs; no simple water will be able to wash it off."

"Then how do you expect me to wash it off?"

Maleficent did not answer her, but rather knelt by the water's edge and beckoned to the three sprites who had been skating over the surface. She spoke to them in a language that only Fair Folk understood, not noticing when Aurora's eyes flashed with recognition.

The three sprites wove around their queen before she could say anything and began to coax the water to do their bidding. They washed away the mud from clothes, hair, and skin. Though Aurora found herself clean of the filth, she was fascinated by the control they had on the water; not even a drop of water was left on her once they had finished.

As Aurora stood and admired the sprites with an unashamed awe, Maleficent was watching, or rather studying, the girl carefully, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. With the mud gone, Aurora glowed. Not in the way her personality lit up her features; Maleficent was used to that. This was a very faint ethereal light, a dim pearly radiance that emanated from the girl's physical being.

It was normal for faeries; the sprites glowed with jewel toned hues, the garden faeries radiated a faint green or gold, even Maleficent herself had a dim opalescent glow that hung about her, though it was almost impossible to see in anything but complete darkness. Never in her life had Maleficent seen it on a human.

She knew that something very strange was occurring within the girl very quickly, and not knowing what it was or what had caused it frightened the faery more than she cared to admit, even to herself. An unknown magic wasn't something she could easily protect Aurora from.

At the sound of her name spoken by the young monarch, Maleficent's stomach leapt as though she had been caught doing something she should not have been. She felt a heat rush to her face and wings and tried to suppress the urge to adjust the way her wings were folded at her sides.

"Yes, Beastie?" She cringed at the way her voice betrayed her unease.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Is something wrong?" The genuine concern and love in Aurora's voice spurred another wave of unwarranted heat through the faery.

She cleared her voice, embarrassed. "I was just admiring the work of the water sprites. They are quite talented at what they do," she lied, closing the space between them as she walked forward to meet the girl. "Though they did miss a spot."

"What? Where?"

Aurora began examining all of her visible self she could see before Maleficent stopped her with a small step closer. "Right here. On your cheek," the faery said, wiping away the spot with her thumb.

Aurora leaned slightly into Maleficent's touch, taking the faery by surprise, but when the girl sighed contentedly she continued to stroke the girl's cheek lightly with her fingers. Later that night she would scold herself for allowing her to indulge in the human girl's affectionate ways, but in that moment she allowed her eyes to rest on the peaceful face of the girl who had stolen what was left of her heart.

Her eyes followed the slow circles she was tracing on the girl's face, then fell to land on something that made her heart stop beating for a moment.

She prayed that it was only her imagination playing tricks on her, that the vaguely pointed shape of Aurora's ear was only a strange manifestation of her fears. But as she blinked quickly to get rid of any illusion and examined more closely, there was no denying that the queen's ears had decidedly become more tapered than they had been a week ago.

_Curious little Beastie._

"What?" Aurora asked airily, slowly drawing herself out of her trance to look up into Maleficent's face, who looked right back at her fondly as she tried to reign in the paranoia eating away at her resolve when she noticed the gold in her eyes flare with her emotions.

Maleficent, now sufficiently confused and trying to make sense of everything she had seen, looked down at the girl with a quizzical expression. "What do you mean?"

"Just now. You spoke, out loud? You said 'Curious little Beastie,' in that far off voice you always use…" Aurora let the question die on her tongue, knowing Maleficent knew what she was asking.

Not realizing she had spoken out loud her thoughts, Maleficent once again cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Ah. Yes, well…never mind that. Let us say our thanks and be on our way."

She dropped her hand to her side and tried to ignore the shameless hope she felt as she noticed the look of disappointment in Aurora's face a the severance of their contact. There were too many things going on for her to wrestle with those emotions as well.

The water sprites danced around the two for a moment longer, bidding their own farewells to the pair before flitting off elsewhere. Maleficent tried to hide the way her feathers bristled and entire body stiffened when Aurora replied in the same language she herself had used earlier.

She also tried to hide the way she shook as she wrapped her arms tightly around Aurora's waist and flew them both to the top of the bluff and into the safety of her oak.

Not until Aurora was tucked away snuggly at her side, sleeping with one of the faery's wings drawn over her for warmth, did Maleficent reflect on all that had happened in such a short time.

The golden eyes.

The way they swirled and flashed and churned as though the colors hand minds and whims of their own. The way the gold burned brighter when she had looked up at the faery.

_They have always been blue. I am sure of it. Not that gold doesn't suit her. In fact it only makes her that much more beautiful…compliments her golden hair, and heart of purest gold….But that's not the point! _She scolded herself for getting so easily distracted by her own selfish musings. _Why are they so decidedly gold now? _

The pointed ears.

Her hand trailed down to stroke the outer shell of the girl's ear as she so often asked her to do, noting the physical change with her fingers. She lifted her hand to her own ear and felt its shape; she shivered at how very much like her own Aurora's now was.

The affluence with which Aurora spoke in the most ancient language of the Fair Folk.

_No human has ever defiled our language with their tongue. She spoke it so easily, though. It was not soiled in her mouth as it would be in another's. But I haven't taught her. Diaval couldn't have; he doesn't speak it himself. No creature on the moors would even speak to her with that language; they know she wouldn't understand a word of it. Even if humans are around to hear it, it should sound to them like birdsong and whispers if anything at all. _

And of course, Maleficent could not forget the radiant glow.

Especially not when, as the girl slept at her side, it cast its eerie and persistent light on the two of them, mingling with her own.

The faery turned her head slightly and pressed a gentle lingering kiss to Aurora's temple in the same place she had pressed her lips to once before, just after vowing to protect the girl from anything and everything as long as she lived.

_Curious little Beastie, indeed._


	2. Chapter 2

"I will see you in a few weeks, Godmother. I promise."

Maleficent sighed audibly, and the feathers of her wings ruffled. Whether they ruffled from displeasure or as protection against the chill, Aurora was not quite certain.

"You _know_ I absolutely _detest_ that name," Maleficent grumbled, and Aurora knew then that it was indeed from irritation that her wings twitched.

Normally the faery was not so easily provoked, but there had been something distinctly different about her as of late.

Diaval noticed it the morning he returned back with the reports she had requested in the way Maleficent so readily raised a hand charged with swirling green mist against him when his arrival shook loose a handful of leaves from the branch he perched on. He noticed it again moments later in the airy way she tried to dismiss it and told him to "keep down your obnoxious screeching, Aurora is still sleeping!"

He noticed it in the way she hardly left Aurora's side for more than a few minutes for the remainder of her stay, in the way she watched the young girl as though she might suddenly disappear into thin air, and in the way her wings twitched and adjusted themselves at every noise around them.

And he especially noticed it in the way she very nearly plucked him when he tried asking her what it was she was so fearful of that she had become an anxious and jittery wreck overnight.

He only made that mistake once. Aurora had fallen asleep and the two standing at the base of the oak's trunk, "to keep watch," as Maleficent had phrased it.

"What is it exactly we are "watching out" for?" Diaval asked casually, fixing his gaze on something in the distance but daring to steal a glance or two at the faery out of the corner of his eye.

"Nothing," Maleficent stated a bit too sharply, cutting short his question. "At least, nothing in particular."

There was a moment of tense silence before Diaval spoke again. "Is it what you've been afraid of for these past few days? If that's it then you could at least tell me what it is we're looking-"

Once again, his thought was cut short as Maleficent rounded on him, a toxic green flashing in her eyes and the harsh features of her face set in hard defiance, "_Foolish bird!"_ she hissed. "There is nothing that I fear. You mean to tell me that you really believe I am _afraid?" _

She spat the last word like it was poison in her mouth, but her voice cracked as she spoke it out loud, as though just speaking it gave it the power to harm her. Diaval couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was herself she was scolding rather than the raven-turned-man who had been unfortunate enough to speak her thoughts aloud for her.

"You were afraid that night you thought the curse would never be broken and that you had lost Aurora forever." He knew that maybe he had gone too far, but there was no taking back the words once they were spoken.

The faery stood rigid, unable to argue. Diaval saw her falter and recoil, saw it in her eyes and the way her wings curled slightly forward around her like a shield.

"Is…is that what you're afraid of? Losing Aurora?" He urged further, speaking the words as though he were approaching a frightened animal, low and gentle.

Maleficent's mouth opened and closed like a fish trying and failing to breathe the air on land and her proud gaze fell to the ground.

_Yes I am afraid of losing her. But I am afraid of more than just that. I am afraid that perhaps the curse is not yet done with her, and afraid that I will have only myself to blame if anything happens to her. I am afraid of not being able to keep my promise to her to protect her from anything._ _I am afraid of what I may become if I lose her for good, but I am even more afraid of what I may turn her into if she stays._

She tried to form an apology, wanted to give him a proper explanation; as her most trusted companion he deserved at least that much. But when she heard the rustles of leaves and shifting weight above in the branches of her tree the walls around her heart rose up once more, as impenetrable as the wall of thorns she had erected to keep the moors safe from threats that were her fault to begin with.

"Maleficent…?" Aurora peered down through the branches at her. The girl was clearly only half awake, most likely roused by the unusual cold of the night without Maleficent there to keep her warm. "Are you not coming to bed?"

Maleficent prayed she had heard none of their conversation and waved her hand in Diaval's direction, silencing him with a transformation from man to bird.

"Right here, Beastie. I'll join you in a moment."

Aurora's only reply was a lazy hum and the sound of her settling back into the nest-like hammock.

With a heavy sigh of relief, she turned back to her feathered companion and granted him human form once more, if only to dismiss him for the night.

Diaval accepted defeat and agreed to head back to his own nest, but before Maleficent could alter his form again he said what Maleficent understood was meant to be an apology.

"You won't, you know. Lose her, that is," he told her. "She loves you too."

Maleficent tried to remember those words, spoken with such confidence that she had settled down beside Aurora that night feeling slightly less frenzied than she had been earlier, as she said farewell to the girl for the weeks she had to be away.

Sitting atop her massive black horse with a thick emerald riding cloak drawn over her shoulders, Aurora somehow seemed older to the Maleficent, more sure of herself as she took the reins and directed her horse towards the towering castle in the distance.

Diaval, designated to be her travelling companion long ago by Maleficent, swooped low over the two, impatient to begin the journey. Usually Maleficent agreed to allow him to travel as a human; he claimed it allowed him to be of more assistance to the queen.

This time, though, she had refused with the explanation that, as a raven, he could more easily travel back and forth between kingdoms should the need arise.

He only stopped protesting when Maleficent gripped him firmly by the shoulders, both tone and body language betraying just how serious she was as she told him what he had joked about the day she got her wings back. "I need you, Diaval. I need you to do this for me."

Maleficent could only hope that her request was unnecessary as they said their final goodbyes

But when Aurora turned once more to steal a last lingering moment with Maleficent, the faery could not easily suppress the worry churning in her stomach as she saw the girl's eyes ripple with a warm honey golden color before being darkened by a deep sapphire blue.

"_Be safe, Beastie…" _Maleficent whispered, but only the wind was there to hear it.


	3. Chapter 3

Aurora had always disliked her stays in the human kingdom.

The oppressive castle walls suffocated her without the open sky for her to look up at, and somehow the air always felt musty and stagnant. Her bed, though comfortable, was excessive, and she felt as though she were always drowning in unnecessary fabric.

There were no fantastic creatures to get to know, no forest sounds to lull her to sleep at night, no faery lights to chase in the dark. She was expected to be poised and refined at all times, while on the moors the most that was expected of her was to be genuine and true.

But most importantly there was no Maleficent.

She was not there in her free time, or at meals, or at council meetings. She was not there in the mornings to wake up to, nor was she there to curl up to at night.

There were only thick stone walls, empty corridors, and floors that were too cold to walk barefoot on, as she much preferred. Even when she did wear shoes, her heels clicked so loud against the surface that it echoed ominously, only further reminding her of her loneliness within the confines of the castle.

To Aurora, human life was as constricting as the corset she was forced to wear there.

This stay was different, though.

She had only been there for two weeks and yet it was already far worse than she had remembered it being.

She woke up at least once a night with a racing heart and the sheets damp with sweat. All the food she was presented with made her stomach churn, and the most she could eat was a few bites before she sent for it to be taken away. The loud echo of her footsteps now was not only a reminder of her isolation; each step she took within those harsh castle walls made her body physically ache.

She found that the humans she was forced to interact with made her hackles rise in distrust, as though she were able to detect ulterior motives and greed on their breath like ale. Anything she was forced to do suddenly became nearly impossible for her to concentrate on long enough to accomplish.

The only things that were able to ease Aurora's suffering were Diaval, who followed her like a shadow through the castle, and a single amber brown feather of Maleficent's that she had saved when she found it in their nest in the oak tree.

Aurora would take the feather in her hand and run her fingers over its silky texture in a rhythmic pattern. Having that little piece of the faery, _her_ faery, with her was like a reassurance that Maleficent was still real and tangible, even while so far away.

She was doing just this on a particularly uncomfortable morning when she was called to attend a council meeting.

Aurora's lady-in-waiting, a petite woman a year or so older than her with dark brown hair by the name of Ella, had grown accustomed to young queen's strange ways, even trying to help her be more comfortable by bringing fresh flowers to her room and escorting her out for strolls in the castle gardens.

But when she came to help Aurora that morning and found her staring out the window, clutching the feather with one hand while the other was trying to reach behind her to scratch at her shoulder blades, Ella couldn't help but be slightly worried.

She had noticed Aurora's strange eyes, the way they burned bright gold when she spoke of the moors or Maleficent, but then darkened to a deep and sad blue. While helping with the girl's hair and dresses she couldn't help but noticed the elfin ears, even trying to hide them from the others with her choice of hairstyles for the queen.

This was different, though. As she approached her queen, she could see the distracted look in her flickering eyes and it was easy to tell that she had been up all night. Nearby, Diaval clacked his beak and fluttered his wings. He had stayed up with the girl and tried to soothe her restless temper but nothing had helped. Still, Aurora had refused to allow the bird to fetch Maleficent.

She did not ask the queen anything, or try to get her to release her grip on the feather. She only drew her away from the window and helped her get ready for the day.

Ella took a cold washcloth to her face and washed away the sweat that had broken over the queen's forehead before arranging the girl's blonde hair in a way that would cover her pointed ears once again. While helping the queen into her dress, she turned a blind eye to the red scratches on either sides of her spine.

She linked an arm with Aurora's and walked down the corridor with her until they came to the door that led to the room where the rest of the council waited.

"I'll come for you when the meeting is over," Ella assured her, smiling slightly. "Afterwards we could take a walk in the gardens, if you'd like."

She turned to leave and attend to other matters, but Aurora caught her by the arm. The queen stared long at her friend, or at least what she thought to be the closest thing she had to one at the castle. "You know, for a human you aren't all that bad," she said after a moment before ducking into the room, and Ella took this as the highest of compliments she could have received.

As the door clicked shut behind her, Aurora found herself facing a large table with the assemblage of council members seated around it; they all rose to their feet with her entrance. She dipped her head to them respectfully, and they all took their seats once more.

She exhaled a quiet sigh of relief when she saw Diaval slip in through an open window and perch somewhere above them.

Aurora took her seat at the head of the table and glanced quickly over the parchment that was laid before her. Numbers, figures, reports that all meant nothing to her. She pretended to look over them for a few moments longer, trying to subdue the pounding in her head.

"Your Majesty?"

Aurora looked up and fixed the man who had disturbed her with a glare that would have made Maleficent proud.

"Yes, Lord Alistair?" she hissed. Above, Diaval flinched at the ice her voice. He had never heard Aurora sound so very callous.

The man cleared his throat before continuing, taken off guard by the queen's sudden change in demeanor. "Now that matters with repairs to the castle and kingdom have been taken care of after the de-" A warning glare from Aurora caused Lord Alistair to reconsider his statement before continuing. "-after the incident almost a year and a half ago, I believe it might be time to turn our attention to more pressing matters."

"Such as?" Her voice was emotionless; her mind was somewhere else entirely.

The answer this time came from the other side of the table, from a stern-faced man with beady eyes and grey hair by the name of Lord Cederic.

"Perhaps like trying to save the failing economy of the kingdom? You refuse to allow the iron-workers to continue making weapons as a safeguard against the moors; that alone put a halt to any economic growth we managed to obtain during King Stefan's rule…"

Aurora had tuned out the old man's ranting as soon as he rose to spoke. He was vehemently against her decisions to not allow her rule over the moors to be used to give the human kingdom any advantage. He would never admit it out loud, but she knew he still clung to the old ambitions of the previous kings.

Instead she ran her thumb over the length of the feather and tried to make the room stop spinning with sheer willpower. Aurora brought a hand to the bridge of her nose, hoping that adding pressure might force the headache out of her body.

Since that night, every inch of her body had ached. Her limbs felt heavy and her mind felt shrouded in a haze. She felt as though the air around her was on fire, yet she shivered with an unnatural cold.

And of course there was the relentless burning, itching, searing irritation just under the skin of her shoulder blades. Something told her that if she scratched hard enough, dug her nails in deep enough it might end the maddening sensation; it reminded her vaguely of the undeniable urge for her to prick her finger the day of her birthday.

Her attention was called back to the meeting when Lord Cederic thrust something folded in cloth at her across the table.

Aurora took the parcel in her hands as he continued, but did not yet unfold it.

"Our iron workers are talented, and as much as those damned creatures on the moors have somehow fooled you into believing they are peaceful, you would do well to heed my advice and restore the iron industry lest we fall under their attack once more!"

Aurora's anger scorched through everything else as she rose to her feet to glare at the man across the table, a familiar and ominous green flaring in her eyes. "And _you _would do well to remember that I am your queen, as well as the queen of the moors that you so readily condemn before me!"

The rest of the council fell silent in shock at the queen's outrage as she continued, daggers in every word she spoke.

"_Fall under attack_? You lying bastard! Your grey hair and limp in your walk tells me you should know well that it was never the moors who attacked this greed-ridden kingdom, but your own gluttonous kings who waged war against the Fair Folk. Or perhaps you are too senile to distinguish between fact and fiction anymore."

She took the heavy object he had presented her with and unwrapped the cloth to reveal an ornately crafted iron dagger meant to be an example of the value of the iron business.

"I will not have you bring weapons meant to harm the Fair Folk into my castle agai- ahh!"

The dagger dropped to the table immediately. All members of the council turned to stare at the queen, and the one nearest to her stood to help her. Aurora recoiled from the object before her, staring down in disbelief at the burn on her hand where the metal had made contact with her skin.

Diaval had swooped down from above, trying to get Aurora's attention to focus on him and him alone to calm her panicked heart.

Aurora could see the large black bird but could not keep his figure in focus, and the edges of her vision were growing gradually fuzzier.

"Bring me Maleficent," she demanded of him, but Diaval had already flown off towards the moors.

While Ella was found to take Aurora to her chambers and care for her, Diaval was flapping almost comically fast as he raced to the borders of the moors.

Relief flooded through his fatigued wings when he saw her standing tall at the edge of the forest, wings twitching nervously.

"Something's happened," she stated more than asked.

Without waiting for his reply she leapt to the sky, the force of her downstroke leaving Diaval wondering how he ended up on the ground before gathering himself up to follow the dark faery.

_Oh Beastie, I'm so sorry._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: hey guys sorry for not updating for a long time. it took a while for me to write this after I had some computer problems and I got caught up in the real world doing college stuffs. hopefully i'll be updating more regularly now!**

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Maleficent didn't bother with the main castle gates or trying to argue her way to Aurora's room. She could have easily burst her way through the castle by sheer force but such things were time-consuming and now far beneath her. Instead she took the more direct route to the girl and flew in through her opened window in a whirl of fury and feathers.

She saw the blonde laying on her side, shivering and weak, and the small dark-haired girl standing worriedly over her with a damp cloth, trying to cool her raging temperature.

Ella looked up at Maleficent's sudden appearance with slight fear in her warm brown eyes, but it was gone in an instant when Aurora began to shiver violently, replaced only by the fear of what was affecting Aurora.

"Where is she?" Maleficent demanded, not bothering to introduce herself.

"Oh thank goodness! I was hoping that raven of hers might somehow end up finding you," Ella sighed, relieved. "I didn't want to have to request that someone else go and find you. That wouldn't have been…" The girl stopped her rambling, seeing the faery's patience with her talkative ways dwindle.

Clearing her throat she began again. "I'm afraid Queen Aurora is not doing so well. She's right here, but I must say I've never seen a sickness like this," she fretted. "And I think…I think there might be something you should see."

Maleficent made her way to the side of her bed, like she had done once before, and looked down on her lovely Aurora. She had fallen asleep, finally, but still trembled slightly, and her hair stuck to her forehead and neck in stringy strands.

The sight made her stomach churn, the situation all too similar to when the curse had held Aurora in a vice grip.

She didn't notice that Ella had joined her at the bedside, so when the girl reached across her for Aurora she flinched defensively and growled at the petite young woman. Ella paused only a moment before continuing, not fearing the actions of the faery in the slightest and instead gently lifting Aurora's right hand in both of hers.

Maleficent watched, intrigued, as Ella unwrapped a linen cloth from Aurora's hand. When it was peeled away, the faery's breath caught in her throat and green mist swirled at her fingertips.

The once untarnished pale skin of Aurora's hand was marred by an ugly burn that ran the length of her palm.

"Incompetent fools!" Maleficent snarled. "What did you let happen to sweet Aurora?"

Ella was not deterred by the faery's outburst, instead proceeding to explain calmly, "Actually, that's what concerns me. When she first came here she was different than she had been before."

A look passed between the two and Maleficent knew that she spoke of the changes she herself had noticed. When Ella did not accuse her of any sort of witchcraft or sorcery on the girl, Maleficent urged her to continue with a nod.

"Well. Things have gotten progressively more noticeable," Ella explained. "I was worrying about how I was going to keep hiding them from the others when I was summoned back to the council room and found her fainted in her chair with the burn on her hand."

She paused once more before speaking; what had happened was so strange that she was half wondering if she had imagined it all, even with the evidence sitting right there before her.

"She had come into contact with an iron dagger, and when she had gripped the blade in her hand it singed her on contact," Ella finally managed, her voice small as the thought urged questions to the forefront of her mind.

"I see," Maleficent said in her usual clipped tone, though she felt as though her heart had stopped entirely and her brain must have short circuited along with it because she felt incapable of any sort of reaction.

By this time Diaval had managed to catch up and flew in through the open window, croaking loudly with worry. Her trance broken by his entrance, Maleficent waved him into a human.

"Oh, do shut up Diaval!" she hissed through clenched teeth. He complied immediately. "We have an emergency. Fly ahead and alert the border guards. Bring Flittle, Thistewit, and Knottgrass to my tree to await our arrival. Go, now!"

Another flick of her wrist and Diaval was gone again. While Ella still tried to wrap her mind around the sudden appearance, transformation, and departure of Diaval, Maleficent tended to rewrapping the girl's burn carefully, sealing it with magic that would help to heal the worst of the wound.

As she set the girls limp arm back down to her side, she noticed something in Aurora's other hand. Upon closer examination, Maleficent realized it was a feather, one strikingly similar to her own.

"She keeps it with her at all times, you know," Ella said mildly behind her. "Your feather, that is. She told me it was yours, and that she missed you terribly. I think carrying it with her made her feel closer to you."

Maleficent managed a smile. "I hope it did. Thank you for watching over my little Beastie during her stay…" She pasued. "I don't think I caught your name?"

"Ella. And I'm assuming you're the Maleficent Aurora tells me so much about?"

"I am." Her heartbeat leapt once more upon hearing that Aurora spoke of her often, but this was not the time for such things. "Thank you again, Ella. I can see you genuinely cared for her while she was here. You have the respect of the moors."

Ella assured Maleficent that she would tell the council that Aurora was taken to the moors for emergency care as she roused the girl enough that she could sit up.

"Godmother!" she exclaimed, and the little blonde monarch nearly fell into her faery's arms.

"Yes, Beastie," Maleficent whispered to her, voice thick with the tears she was trying to hold back as she clutched Aurora close to her heart. "I am here now. We're going home."

Aurora did not reply; she had drifted back to sleep, and Maleficent held her tightly as she felt the girl begin to shiver again.

She lifted the girl in her arms and made sure her grip on her was secure, walking hurriedly to the window. But she paused just before Ella.

With one of her usual apathetic sighs, Maleficent extended a shimmering golden magic out to the young woman. Aurora's grip on her feather loosened as it was coaxed out of her fingers and found a new home in Ella's open palm.

While Ella was still admiring the gift bestowed upon her by the faery, Maleficent made her way to the open windows.

"Give the council my regards," Maleficent said coolly over her shoulder as her wings twitched in anticipation before lifting the two to the sky and setting course for the moors.

Ella watched them go until their figures disappeared from view, running her finger over the feather.

She hoped that one day she would see them again, but something told her it would not be, and that if Aurora ever returned again it would not be as their queen.


	5. Chapter 5

The Fair Folk of the moors never kept track of time or days; such things were for mortal men scurrying about and fretting about how much time they have left.

They knew that when the sun was out it was daytime, and when it went away it was nighttime. They could tell what season it was not by what month it was but by what the weather on the moors was like; during the winter they all knew that the wind was always in a particularly bad mood.

But now, as Aurora lay trembling in the boughs of the oak while she slept, Maleficent felt the passing of each second as physically as raindrops relentlessly pelting her skin in a storm.

It had been four days since Aurora had been brought back to the moors, and even with all the care the faeries and Maleficent had been giving to her, there had been almost no change in her condition.

Maleficent refused to leave her side, refused to sleep, refused everything until she knew that Aurora was going to be alright. She tried her own magic against the sickness, trying to heal her as she healed the trees and animals but it did little more than it had done when she had tried to revoke her curse.

Everything she tried failed, but still she kept trying until every last reservoir of hers had been bled dry. Diaval tried to pry her away from the girl's side, begged her to eat or drink something but she refused, flicking him away with her hand. Eventually he stopped trying to reason with her and carried out her wishes.

All creatures of the moors came by to see their queen, but Maleficent sent them all away, curling her wings protectively around Aurora's fragile body as a shield from curious eyes. Even Knottgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit stopped coming by when Maleficent realized that nothing they could do was helping.

Aurora would occasionally awaken from her sleep, much to Maleficent's relief who had started to worry her "true love's kiss" hadn't been enough to fully break the curse and it was now back to claim her again.

The faery would try to urge the girl to eat or drink something, usually one of the moorland briar roses engulfed with a nutrient enriched nectar that she used to send Diaval with when Aurora was an infant, but she would shake her head and curl closer to Maleficent's warmth before succumbing to her sleep once more.

The evening of the fourth night Maleficent was keeping her ever vigilant watch on the girl, shielding her from the wind with her wings when she heard a feeble squeaking from the mass of tangled golden hair and heavy dress robes beneath her.

Her wings slacked and retracted away enough that light was allowed to stream onto Aurora's slight frame and Maleficent could see the girl squirming slightly against her own body. Maleficent sighed with relief and sat slightly upright to allow Aurora a chance to do the same.

"Hello Godmother," Aurora whispered, and Maleficent prayed the girl did not feel her heart leap at the sound of her voice, a sound she was beginning to fear she would never hear again.

Maleficent moved to help the girl sit up against her, brushing her messy hair out of her eyes. "Hello there, Beastie."

Nearby, Diaval was hopping from branch to branch and squawking excitedly, but Maleficent was not about to let him intrude on her first few moments of Aurora's regained consciousness. "Diaval, go and fetch a few of the roses; she needs to regain her strength. Quickly!"

The raven clacked his beak, obviously annoyed at being sent away so soon, but resigned to allowing the two a few moments to themselves as he fell away from the tree and out into the moors.

"Sweet Aurora, you've had me worried sick these past few days," Maleficent chided fondly. "I was starting to worry that perhaps the curse had reclaimed you. That I was not strong enough to break it permanently."

Maleficent hadn't meant to become emotional at Aurora's awakening, but there was something about admitting it out loud that caused her voice to crack and falter.

Aurora smiled and shook her head. "True love's kiss is always strong enough, you silly faery, and yours is the truest love I've ever known."

The most powerful faery in the moors, the one who had broken her own curse, was moved to tears by the young girl's words. She had been afraid that she had failed at saving Aurora, that her act of true love had not been good enough or strong enough.

Seeing her there, even though she had grown so gaunt, blinking lazily up at her with those miraculously shifting eyes was enough to cast all those thoughts away.

Aurora was already leaning against her but the faery wrapped her arms around her and pulled the little blonde closer into a strong embrace, once again curling her wings around them both to hide them from the world.

"Godmother?" Aurora said after a few moments.

"Yes?"

"I can't breathe."

"Oh," Maleficent said shortly. "Right." She released her vice grip on the girl and smoothed over her hair. "Better?"

"Much."

Diaval returned shortly with three rose stems held carefully in his beak, placing one carefully in Aurora's lap so as not to shake out the nectar that Aurora so vitally needed. She drank in the nutrients cradled in the petals and smiled at the vaguely familiar taste of something she remembered from long ago.

The magical substance flooded through her body and made her feel immediately stronger. Her hair that had grown dull gained back its sheen, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, as did her lips, and she felt strength return to her movements.

Maleficent took one of the remaining and insisted that Aurora take the last. Finally both seemed to be back to normal for the time being.

A wave of her hand, a dusting of gold magic, and Diaval was once again human, doing what he did best and smothering the two with affection in the form of snarky remarks and embraces that more resembled tackles. The trio indulged in the moment for a while, enjoying each other's company.

But it didn't take long for Maleficent to grow tired of Diaval's bulky and clumsy presence in her nest.

"Oh do make yourself useful, you big oaf. Go and alert the sentries and her aunties or something." Aurora giggled at the face Diaval made in response but did not disagree. She herself was rather uncomfortable as well.

Now that she thought about it, she was extremely uncomfortable. Her back felt extremely cramped up and every time she moved her heavy robes seemed to resist and restrict her, and she felt sticky and damp from the cold sweat she had had persistently since falling ill.

Once Diaval had left in a flurry of black feathers and annoyance, Aurora turned to Maleficent urgently.

"I wish to wash up and get out of these awful clothes." It was not a request from a carefree young girl but a command from a queen, and Maleficent smiled to see the girl so full of life again.

She carried the girl down the cliff side to the small secluded pool and gentle waterfall which she herself used when she wished to wash and preen.

"I'll be just over there if you need me." Maleficent gestured towards a line of trees a couple yards away so that she could give the girl her privacy, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling in her stomach at the thought of Aurora so close by.

Aurora smiled and nodded, proceeding to try and strip off her heavy garments but failing miserably. After a few moments of embarrassed silence she resigned to the fact that she needed Maleficent's help.

"Godmother…?" she asked tentatively. "I…I think I'm stuck."

The faery sighed deeply and felt her heart race for a moment before emerging from the trees. Her wings twitched nervously, but she couldn't help the light chuckle she made when she saw the mess of tangled fabric Aurora had managed to turn herself into.

Very carefully she helped remove the thick and restrictive dress, exercising extreme restraint in even letting her fingers touch the skin of her body, which, she noted yet again, had a faint pearly glow.

Little by little Aurora was released from the constraints of her attire, and she found she could breathe deeper and easier. Still, though, her back ached persistently and she grew anxious to be free of the corset wound tightly about her waist, so when Maleficent paused she couldn't help but become agitated.

"Please, Maleficent, I can't take it anymore!" she exclaimed.

But Maleficent hadn't heard a word. She was staring, perplexed, at what she thought she was seeing underneath the last thin shreds of fabric hanging on Aurora's tiny body. Her cheeks burned red as she began to unlace the corset slowly, afraid of what she might find.

It fell to the ground, followed shortly by the last undergarments, and Aurora groaned with relief, stretching the muscles in her back.

When she felt a nervous hand on her back and a sudden intake of breath from Maleficent, she froze.

"What is it Maleficent?" she asked, but Maleficent could not give a proper answer.

Maleficent's only response was complete silence for what seemed like an eternity, then "Oh dear…"

The faery stared, dumbfounded and fearful, at the girl's bare back.

Except it wasn't bare. It was far from bare.

Because now, from the space between her shoulder blades and spine, small wings covered with downy chick fluff folded carefully against her back.

Before Aurora could ask again, she heard a loud thump behind her and turned to find her graceful, powerful, and always carefully composed faery in a heap on the ground. Maleficent had fainted.


End file.
